Child Abuse & Neglect

The Children’s Bureau supports programs, research, and monitoring systems that prevent child abuse and neglect while ensuring that children who are victims receive treatment and care.

We provide funding to states and tribes to help them strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. Our funding also provides for child abuse and neglect assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities.

The following are our child abuse and neglect programs:

• Promoting Safe and Stable Families
  • The Court Improvement program
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)
• CAPTA discretionary fund
• CAPTA state grants
• Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) Grants
• The Children's Justice Act (CJA)
• National Conferences on Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting Systems

The Children’s Bureau collects case-level data on reports of child abuse and neglect and analyzes the data. We make our reports available to the public and provide an annual report to Congress.

Reporting systems include the following:

• The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)
  • Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress
  • Child Maltreatment

Child Abuse & Neglect Training and Technical Assistance

Through our Training and Technical Assistance Network, we help states and tribes with the following:

• Child protection
• Prevention of child maltreatment
• In-home services for families
• Assistance for infants at risk of abandonment

For more information about training and technical assistance, you can visit the following resource centers:

• The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
• The National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
• The Children's Bureau's Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative
• The National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination

Federal Inter-Agency Work Group on Child Abuse & Neglect

The amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1988 created a Federal Inter-Agency Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. Recent reauthorizations of CAPTA highlight coordination and collaboration across agencies related to child abuse and neglect, but do not specify the mechanism to do so. The work group has continued to meet quarterly.

• About the Work Group
  • Webinars
  • Work Group Members

Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities

The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities was created by the Protect Our Kids Act of 2012, and Commissioners were appointed by Congress and the White House to study and make recommendations for ending child maltreatment fatalities. The Commission’s final report presents both a comprehensive national strategy for fundamental reform and recommendations for actions by the executive branch, Congress, and states and counties.

• Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities